Montel Williams recently returned from Iraq, where he spent six days visiting with U.S. troops aboard the U.S.S.

Dwight D. Eisenhower and at the ABOT oil terminal in the North Arabian Gulf, which provides 90 percent of the Iraqi oil supply. His visit serves as the backdrop of “Montel” shows airing Thursday and Friday.

“A lot of people should be happy about this. To the man and woman, all [the troops] are saying the same thing – that they’re happy to have the opportunity to serve their country,” says Williams, himself a highly decorated ex- Marine.

“I was trying to push them to say they’re sick of this, to say they wish they were home, but these are their real beliefs,” he says. “Sometimes I was moved to tears talking to the younger troops.

“They’re saying, ‘Yeah, we want to come home when our mission is done.’ This is all about celebrating the troops, who have done so much.

“I don’t think we honor them enough for their commitment.” Williams also brought messages from home for the troops, and had a few surprises up his sleeve which you’ll see Thursday and Friday (4 p.m./Ch. 9).

Last, but not least:

* TBS has ordered nine more episodes of “My Boys,” which has done well among adults 18-49. Five new episodes premiere Dec. 26-28 at 10 p.m. (Jordana Spiro, Jim Gaffigan, Kyle Howard).

* Today: Ch. 5’s Dr. Sapna Parikh (right) panels at the Publicity Club of New York.

* Movie star Rupert Everett (right) has quit Britain’s celebrity version of “The Apprentice” after just one day. Everett, 47, said he couldn’t stand being constantly filmed. “I went in with good intentions but I just could not cope with the ‘Big Brother’ mentality,” he said.